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Johnson talks to Toronto media for first time

Recently acquired starting pitchers Josh Johnson and Mark Buehrle spoke to the Toronto media today for the first time since the 12-player blockbuster trade with Miami was completed earlier this month.

There wasn’t anything earth shattering in terms of news but Buehrle provided a lot of information about the problems he is going to encounter in Ontario because of his four dogs — including one pitbull. Johnson talked about how he wasn’t all that surprised by being traded because he expected something to happen before free agency. It’s just the timing of the deal that caught the potential No. 1 starter a little off-guard.

My article on Johnson can be found here while my article on Buehrle can be found here. Make sure to check both of them and if you’re not already doing so please give me a follow on Twitter @gregorMLB

“At first it was a little bit of a shock. I’ve only known one thing and that’s the Marlins ever since 2002 when I got drafted. They’ve always been good to me but as soon as I slept on it, I woke up the next day and I was excited. It was a little bit of a shock, I thought I’d be there for maybe another half season to give it one more run at it but as soon as I woke up the next morning I was excited and ready to move on.”

On whether he’d be interested in signing a long-term extension in Toronto…

“That would be great. That’s the last thing on my mind, is worrying about getting an extension, or how long I’m going to be there. It’s more about winning. That’s all I’ve been about since I started playing baseball. I’m all about winning, that’s all I want to do. It makes everything better. It makes food taste better, it makes your wife happier, your family happier, everything is better when you’re winning.”

What were the major differences between your 2010 season and the one you had last year…

“2010, everything was clicking. Everything was working. I felt like I could throw anything up there and it would be an out, or a swing and a miss, get lucky and a line drive right at somebody. Last year it felt like every ball fell … My timing, my tempo, tempo is everything for me in my delivery. Whenever that’s missing, or it’s off, everything is going to kind of be thrown off. My tempo was all over the place, I was getting into bad habits early in the year. I’d get away from them for a start and I’d get right back to them a couple of starts later. It was tough and frustrating but the last 10 or so starts of the year I felt like I was getting back on track and getting right where I need to get.”

On what he asked John Buck about Toronto and the Blue Jays organization…

“Just kind of how is it, what should we expect? Those kinds of questions. I’ve known nothing else but the Marlins. Mark went through this last year a little bit, got into Spring Training and didn’t really know anybody. But just what to expect, I knew where Spring Training was, I flew down there and kind of saw Dunedin a little bit, where do you live. Just the basic questions that make that transition a little bit easier.

“Buck said that it’s an amazing place to play. The fans are amazing and the coaching staff all the way through the front office and everyone was amazing while he was there and said it shouldn’t be any different.”

On Buehrle saying Johnson turned a corner near the end of the 2012 season…

“Yeah. At the end of the year last year, I’d say maybe the last 15 starts I felt so much better than before. I was kind of fighting myself, my body, trying to do this or that. Maybe trying to find a little bit more velocity but once I started to relax and trust myself, trusted my stuff, it kind of just came out. I don’t know if I was throwing any harder or anything like that but the depth I had on my slider, curveball and the location of my fastball got much, much better.”

On whether he’s talked to any of the current Blue Jays yet…

“Yeah, I talked to J.P., he texted me. I actually met him last offseason in Miami and I talked to him for about five minutes. He texted me and said ‘Welcome, I’ve already got a video on you, I’m watching it, and getting ready for Spring Training to get you back on track.’ I texted Ricky Romero yesterday I believe, maybe the day before, just to tell him if he’s ever in Vegas to let me know and if he needs a throwing partner. I told him whenever I’m in Southern California I’ll hit him up and we’ll get together.”

On his thoughts about the revamped Blue Jays’ roster…

“Extremely excited. The people I hadn’t seen in awhile, just last night, went to a basketball game with them and they were asking me about who’s in the lineup, and just going through it again and I was just like, ‘Wow, it’s even better than what I had first imagined when the trade first went through.’ I’m extremely excited to get it going, to meet the guys and start that camaraderie going.”

On using the curveball more last season…

“I used to throw it back when I first got drafted. Whenever I was in low-A, somebody told me I’m not going to throw a curveball anymore you’re going to throw a slider. So I just had to jump into throwing a slider in the middle of the season and with kind of mixed reviews. The first outing was really good and then after that it was all over the place. The next couple of years I learned how to throw it.

“I didn’t throw a curveball for six-seven years, maybe more than that. Occasionally I’d mess around with it, during flat ground I’d throw it. Then in 2010 I actually started throwing it, but my season was so short, nine starts, and I’d throw it once or twice a game and that was it. A little show me, slow the hitters down and then I’d just throw them a fastball, slider, changeup. Then, this last year I finally learned how to pitch with it.

“This was my first full season to pitch with it and to throw it that much. I was learning the whole year. Good thing I had John Buck back there because he helped me out tremendously. Whenever I was in doubt he would put it down, kind of gave me that re-assurance that this is the right pitch, let’s throw it. So I could throw it how to throw it and when, where to throw it, things like that.”

On whether he’s comfortable using it at any time now…

“Any count. Last year, I started throwing it 0-2, 3-2, 2-0, I was throwing it in every count. It’s a pitch I relied on a lot last year.”

On why he stopped throwing it in the first place…

“They told me not to throw it anymore. It wasn’t consistent enough and actually the game before that I was starting to throw it for first-pitch strikes, two strikes, I finally got that feel for it just like I had in high school. It took awhile, it took half a season to figure out, but then all of a sudden I go to my bullpen the next time out and they said no more curveball. So, I was like, ‘Um ok, I guess I’ll start throwing a slider.'”

On whether he’s talked to any of the coaches yet…

“Yes, I talked to the pitching coach. Talked to John Gibbons really briefly, he texted me the day he got hired and just said I wanted to say happy thanksgiving and I’ll call you after the holidays and stuff like that. Two brief conversations and I talked to Alex a couple of times. Everybody seems nice and everybody’s excited and ready to get this thing going.”

On what went wrong in Miami…

“It was tough. Seemed like everything that could go wrong, went wrong. We’d have a good stretch there in May where everything was going right and I was pitching terrible too. I was maybe 0-3 in five starts in that month or something like that. We went like 21-8 or something like that. But then all of a sudden I started throwing well and the team was playing bad.

“I don’t know if it was more about, sometimes it seemed like it was more about the stadium. It was more worried about all of the new stuff, what’s going to happen next with the stadium and not worrying about just playing baseball and down to the basics of it.”

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